July 24, 2007

(Fast) food for thought, Barry Bonds edition

1. At the end of the 2001 season, when he was finishing up his 73-homer season, Barry Bonds would do daily interviews with a pack of reporters. They were conducted in a room that was run by both Major League Baseball and the San Francisco Giants.

But that was before MLB was forced to explore how wide-spread the use of steroids had become, a subject that couldn't be avoided after Ken Caminiti's admission to Sports Illustrated and the BALCO raid.

With Bonds coming down the home stretch in his pursuit of Hank Aaron, things are markedly different. There is no interview room, no official presence from MLB. Bonds blows off reporters more often than he permits them to question him.

You would have thought that he could have talked on Monday, when he opened a homestand in front of his supportive home fans at the beautiful AT&T Park. You would have been wrong. Bonds wasn't available before the game against Atlanta in large part because he didn't walk into the clubhouse until 4:40 p.m., only 20 minutes before his appearance on the field for batting practice. The Giants later announced that Bonds would not be available after the game unless he hit home run No. 754, which he did not.

It doesn't help anything, of course, that the Giants have become one of the worst teams in the major leagues, which is why owner Peter Magowan is strongly considering letting Bonds go elsewhere to play in 2008. Well, that and the fact that he's just about drained the last few drops of milk out of his cash cow.

2. If John Smoltz can continue to pitch the way he did on Monday night, when he beat Bonds' Giants, the Braves just might find a way to get in the playoffs. If they do make the playoffs, they just might get back to the World Series. Of course I'd say that; I picked them before the season started.

Smoltz figured to be the key and he brought his good stuff to AT&T Park Monday. In his three confrontations with Bonds, he threw three fastballs in the 94-95 m.p.h. range, and every ball he threw moved like he had given it the Gaylord Perry treatment. The victory raised his record to 10-5 with a 2.78 ERA. Pretty impressive.

3. Mark Buehrle's loss to Detroit Monday was a continuation of another 2007 trend -- that is, the collateral damage to starters' ERAs because of the horrible bullpen. Ozzie Guillen really has little choice but to stick with his starter as long as he can. This regularly means that the starter gives up two or three earned runs he shouldn't have, sometimes more. It doesn't matter when Buehrle's ERA gets inflated but Jose Contreras' is another case entirely. Kenny Williams' chances of trading Contreras get smaller with every one of his outings, and that 10-run shellacking at Boston last weekend might have closed the window altogether. It marked the fourth start in a row in which Contreras' ERA has increased, a stretch of time in which it has climbed from 4.63 to 5.76. About the only way to trade a starter with a 5.76 ERA and three years left on his contract is to eat a bunch of salary. That's not how Jerry Reinsdorf operates.

4. Would Williams be able to stand the heat that might come from trading Jermaine Dye to the Cubs? Most people think there's no way the White Sox would help out the Cubs but otherwise this is a perfect match. Dye (.333 with four homers and eight RBIs in 45 at-bats since the All-Star break) perfectly fits the Cubs' need for a right-handed bat and the Cubs have players to give who potentially could help the Sox, including middle infielders Eric Patterson and Ronny Cedeno and outfielders Matt Murton, Jake Fox, Micah Hoffpauir and Josh Kroeger. In the right package, Williams might even get Jim Hendry to talk about Felix Pie or 2006 first-round pick Tyler Colvin. Bottom line: Dye moving across town is very unlikely but shouldn't be ruled out by the White Sox, not if the price was right.

5. Whispers: Having now watched the Giants in three cities over five days, I think their one spare part who could help a contender -- especially the Yankees -- is first baseman Ryan Klesko. He's hitting the ball hard, and reminds me of Sean Casey when he went from Pittsburgh to Detroit last year. ... Add Boston's Wily Mo Pena to Arizona's Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin among the bats in play for possible trades to the White Sox. Pena looks the part but has never acted it. Still, you wonder what would happen if he ever found a way to get 500 at-bats. The tools are there, just not the performance. ... Updating one of my favorite stats: After winning his last two starts, Roger Clemens has raised the record of his teams in his starts to 14-14 the last two years. Houston was 10-9 a year ago; the Yankees are 4-5. ... Aaron Harang's 10-inning, 121-pitch outing in Cincinnati's 12-inning win over Milwaukee Monday night was one of the best pitched games of the year. Harang, who was overlooked for the All-Star team, had 10 strikeouts and no walks. ... Mark Wegner had a huge strike zone Monday night except when Bonds was at the plate. Bruce Froemming gets the plate tonight. ... The Cha-Cha bowl (rice, beans and chicken) at AT&T Park is worth a trip to the concession stands.

Comments

This just in...Bonds is a jerk. Thanks for the insight and keep it coming!

Ryan Klesko reminds you of Sean Casey? I'm going to assume it's because they play the same position because there is absolutely nothing even remotely similar about their games or personalities. It's like saying Scott Podsednik reminds me of Adam Dunn.